Luohan was quite pleased to have leveled up his Levitation Magic to Lv.
2.
To celebrate, he put extra effort into dinner, preparing two additional dishes for the group.
The party couldn’t stop praising the meal once they tasted Luohan’s special egg-yolk mayo salad and his beggar’s chicken-style roast meat.
Frieren even took the time to teach Luohan a spell that allowed for the precise regulation of flame temperature.
This left Luohan marveling at just how many strange and obscure spells Frieren had actually mastered.
As they exchanged notes, it seemed that Frieren and Fern were having much better luck with the search.
Both were highly proficient in using Levitation Magic to fly, allowing them to survey and rule out vast swaths of territory quickly.
“I really want a day off.
I think I’ll sleep in tomorrow,” Frieren said, sitting by the campfire.
She picked up a bunch of grapes, used magic to turn them sour, and shared them with everyone.
Fern sat beside her, looking at the sour grapes and pouting, unsure of how to even begin eating them.
“Keep at it for just a bit longer,” Eisen said, taking a grape.
“We should be close.”
And so, the group continued their search the following morning.
It was on this day that the turning point arrived.
The area assigned to Luohan and Eisen was a hillside with complex terrain.
The trees grew densely here, their thick, gnarled roots exposed on the surface in a tangled mess.
Luohan was training as he searched.
When his physical strength ran low, he used Levitation Magic to take to the sky, alternating his methods to keep the search thorough.
He had barely cleared the canopy when he noticed a tree in the distance that stood out from the rest.
There was the distinct sensation of a magical barrier!
Luohan felt a surge of excitement.
He had finally found it—the location of Flamme’s notes from the original story.
“Master Eisen!” he called out, quickly descending.
“I found it.
The ruins and the great tree protected by a magical barrier.”
Eisen nodded.
He followed the floating Luohan as they rushed toward the site.
A minute later, Eisen stood before the massive tree.
After confirming the find, he turned to Luohan.
“Go find Frieren and the girl.
Bring them here.”
Luohan took off at full speed, quickly locating Frieren and Fern and leading them back.
…
Frieren murmured to herself as she stroked the great tree, eventually dispelling the barrier.
Faint golden lines spread upward from the roots, weaving into a complex magic circle on the surface of the trunk.
The runes rotated and expanded until finally, the roots pulled themselves out of the earth, parting to reveal a doorway.
When the door opened, a grimoire could be seen floating upon a pedestal.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the roots, illuminating the pages of the book.
“We found it.” Fern watched as Frieren stepped forward to pick up the grimoire, a trace of doubt in her voice.
“Flamme’s notes…
is it the real thing?”
“It’s real,” Frieren whispered, her voice thick with nostalgia.
Fern soon learned from Eisen that Frieren was Flamme’s lead apprentice.
She couldn’t help but marvel, “Then she really has existed since the era of myth.”
“Is there a record in there regarding speaking with the dead?” Eisen asked as he watched Frieren examine the book closely.
“It was even thoughtfully left open to this exact page,” Frieren said, her tone unreadable.
Frieren proceeded to complain about Flamme’s habits, yet her eyes were focused, reading through the text rapidly.
Fern stepped forward to look at the grimoire with her, while Eisen and Luohan stood back, silently listening to Frieren read aloud.
“Aureole, the place where souls rest…”
“Where exactly is it?” Fern asked curiously.
“The northern tip of the continent.
Ende.”
“Eh?
Isn’t that where the Demon King’s castle is located?”
Frieren didn’t speak.
She looked toward the north, her gaze crossing over the layers of the forest canopy as if she could pierce through time and space.
Eisen, standing beside them, broke his silence.
“Frieren, are you going to Aureole to talk to Himmel?”
Eisen remained silent for a moment before speaking firmly.
“You must go.”
“You said you’d help me, didn’t you?
Help me through to the end.” Eisen gave Frieren a slightly guilty look.
Frieren closed the book and smiled.
“I understand.
My journey didn’t have a destination anyway.”
Meanwhile, Luohan’s attention was entirely fixed on the Notes of the Great Mage Flamme.
Earlier, with the sunlight hitting it, he hadn’t noticed, but now that it was out of the doorway, he realized the book was emitting a golden glow.
It was unmistakable—this was a Golden Item recognized by the Collision World!
Standing a few paces away, Luohan stared at the faint golden light emanating from the book, a light that only he could see.
A Golden Item.
This was the highest quality object he had seen since entering this world.
The two Purple Items dropped by the Corrupted Sage had already caused his strength to leap forward.
This golden-quality grimoire…
he had to try and get his hands on it.
Thinking of this, Luohan walked straight over.
Because of the contract, he didn’t have much room for schemes.
Rather than overthinking it later, it was better to express his interest now.
“Frieren,” Luohan said, choosing his words carefully.
“That grimoire…
once you’re finished studying it, could you let me have a look?”
Frieren looked up, a flash of surprise in her eyes.
“You’re interested in this?”
“I sense something special about it,” Luohan said vaguely, though it wasn’t a lie.
The unique light of a Golden Item was indeed something only he, a player of the Collision World, could perceive.
“It’s not necessarily the contents I’m after; I just want to study the object itself.”
Frieren looked at the book in her hand, then back at Luohan.
After a few seconds, she nodded.
“Alright.
Once I’ve finished reading it and recorded the information I need, I’ll give it to you.”
“Thank you.”
That promise put Luohan’s mind at ease.
Even if he couldn’t have it immediately, at least the opportunity was secured.
By now, it was dusk.
The party decided to stay in the Voral Basin for one more night.
Using local ingredients, Luohan showcased his skills once more by making a Voral Basin-style risotto.
He lifted the lid and drizzled some sweet and sour berry sauce over it, completing the truffle butter wild boar risotto.
“There, that should keep it from being too heavy,” Luohan said as he served the rice onto plates for everyone.
“Oh!
This flavor…
Luohan, I believe you now.
When you were a human in your past life, you must have been a chef,” Eisen remarked, savoring the deep, layered flavors.
A sudden flash of inspiration struck Luohan’s mind.
“Master Eisen, could I trouble you for a bit of your time after dinner?
I…
have something I’d like to ask.”
Frieren and Fern both looked over.
Eisen thought for a moment, looked at the risotto in his hand, and nodded.
“Fine.”
And so, after everyone had finished eating, Luohan approached Eisen again.
“Master Eisen, let’s talk over there,” Luohan said, pointing downstream toward the creek.
The two left the campsite and walked along the stream for a distance.
In the darkening forest, the occasional howl of a beast echoed through the trees.
“What is it?
Speak,” Eisen said, stopping and crossing his arms.
He appeared relaxed, but his overall posture held a hint of guardedness.
Luohan took a deep breath and looked directly into the dwarf warrior’s sharp eyes.
“It might be presumptuous of me, but I would like you to teach me your combat technique.”
Eisen blinked.
“Flash Strike,” Luohan said, naming the technique that Stark would first use in the original story.
He also recalled the scene where Eisen had used Flash Strike against the Blood-Stained Military God, knocking him off a cliff.
“I know it’s your ultimate move—a slashing technique that unleashes a burst of speed and power beyond the limits of the body in a single instant.
I want to learn it.”
The air went still for a few seconds.
Then, Eisen let out a snort of derision.
“Are you making fun of me?” His beard twitched; he seemed genuinely annoyed.
“Perhaps you’ve heard stories about me from Frieren, but ‘Flash Strike’ isn’t some child’s plaything.
It requires a body forged through a thousand refinements, a warrior’s absolute control over power, and an insight gained only through countless life-and-death struggles.
Even many dedicated warriors spend their whole lives without ever reaching the threshold.”
“I won’t waste much of your time,” Luohan interrupted.
“You only need to show me once.”
Eisen narrowed his eyes, re-evaluating the “magical beast” before him.
Luohan’s expression was dead serious, without a trace of a joke.
“Once?
I don’t have time for your nonsense.”
“You only need to teach me seriously, just once.”
“Why?” Eisen asked.
“You’re a mage—or at least, that’s the path you’re taking.
What use is a combat technique to you?”
“Because I don’t want to have only one option,” Luohan said, weighing his words.
“Magic is powerful, but mana can run out.
If a day comes where I’m forced into close quarters and my mana is depleted, I need a trump card to turn the tide.”
Luohan paused, his voice rising slightly.
“Furthermore, I promised Lady Frieren that I would do my best to help her.
One more source of strength is one more chance to fulfill that promise.”
Eisen remained silent for a long time.
The night wind brushed through his brown beard and scattered the forest mist.
He simply stared into Luohan’s eyes.
Luohan didn’t flinch, staring back with an unwavering focus.
“Show you once and you’ll learn it?
What’s the point?” Finally, Eisen spoke, his voice full of skepticism.
“I don’t believe it.”
“Then let’s find out,” Luohan said.
“If I can’t learn it, you can just treat it as if I was talking in my sleep.”
Eisen sighed.
“Fine.
Since you’ve put it that way, I’ll consider this payment for all the good food you’ve been making lately.”
“Watch closely.
I’m only showing you once.”
He stepped back, creating some distance.
The dwarf warrior’s stance changed instantly.
The casual, arm-crossing posture vanished, replaced by a coiled, near-perfect battle readiness.
His feet were planted apart, knees slightly bent, center of gravity lowered.
His entire aura shifted in an instant from a common dwarf to a predator about to pounce.
“Watch,” Eisen said.
“I’m only doing this once.”
In the next heartbeat, he moved.
It wasn’t a standard dash or jump.
Eisen’s entire body became a blurred afterimage.
He moved so cleanly that he didn’t even kick up much dust from the ground.
Because his power wasn’t scattered; every ounce of it was channeled into his forward momentum.
A short, sharp boom echoed through the air.
It wasn’t a sonic boom, but rather the sound of muscle and bone compressing to the absolute limit during an explosive release.
A massive vertical gash abruptly appeared on the great tree in front of Eisen.
Then, the tree slowly fell apart to both sides.
Even the roots deep beneath the earth had been severed by that single strike.
Eisen was already standing before the tree, as if he had been there from the very beginning.
The entire process took less than a single breath.
“That is ‘Flash Strike’.” Eisen turned around, his breathing as steady as if he had done nothing at all.